


An Overview of Merlin Fanworks

by yourlibrarian



Series: Fanfic Genres [12]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Fanfiction, Gen, Meta, Nonfiction, Tropes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:28:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24082075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourlibrarian/pseuds/yourlibrarian
Summary: Well before theMeta Manifestofest got started, I wanted to review Merlin fic trends with an (inevitable) focus on Merlin/Arthur stories. One caveat to all that follows is that it describes fanworks available through AO3.  There are likely to be significant differences, particularly in terms of the het to gen to slash ratio, in other online locations.
Relationships: Gwen/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Gwen/Lancelot (Merlin), Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Merlin/Morgana (Merlin)
Series: Fanfic Genres [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/465745
Comments: 10
Kudos: 13
Collections: Meta Manifesto 2020 Fest





	1. Story Genres

Well before the [Meta Manifesto](https://meta-manifesto.dreamwidth.org/381.html) fest got started, I wanted to review Merlin fic trends with an (inevitable) focus on Merlin/Arthur stories. I've done [a few of these](https://archiveofourown.org/series/465745) before, but despite reading in the Merlin fandom for a decade now, I'd yet to do an overview. One caveat to all that follows is that it describes fanworks available through AO3. There are likely to be significant differences, particularly in terms of the het to gen to slash ratio, in other online locations. For example, FF.net also has a sizable collection (~22,500 stories). 

**A non-het fandom**

I've subscribed to the AO3 Merlin feed for some years now, meaning that I see everything posted for it each day. This actually creates a more accurate portrait of the fandom's works than the stats, which show that 25,199 of the fandom's 36,864 works are Merlin/Arthur stories, or 68%. Because curiously the stats also show that 24,932 stories are slash stories, yet that ought to include the various other small m/m pairings that appear on AO3. So clearly a lot of these stories are either mistagged, or failed to be categorized at all.

The biggest likelihood is that the additional 1,956 Merlin & Arthur stories are not always categorized as slash stories, even when a number of them are only gen for part of the story. It could also be that the confusion that some creators have about / and & meaning the same thing have undercounted the slash works by quite a lot.

The other way that the stats are misleading is in suggesting that there are other major pairings in the fandom. In fact, all other pairings are minor pairings. For example, Gwen/Lancelot have 1,566 works tagged. Yet there are actually very few of those stories available. Rather, they're the most popular background or side pairing in a Merthur story. (I call it a "side" pairing when the other couple actually gets some screen time, and a background pairing when they exist in the story but have no scenes as a couple). Instead, the next most common pairings that actually get their own stories are Gwen/Arthur (2,816) and Gwen/Morgana, who make up 1,131 of the 2,086 F/F works. There are many minor F/F pairings, involving Nimueh, Morgause, and pretty much every other woman who appeared on the series at some point. But even Gwen/Morgana pass 1000 stories largely because they too appear as a side couple in Merlin/Arthur tales.

The only other het couple who even makes the top 10 relationship tags are Merlin/Freya with 493, which creates a very clear picture of how absent these stories are. Even Gwen/Arthur, the central canon ship which we see realized in the final season, do not appear in their own stories as often as their numbers would suggest. Instead they can be part of a larger Merlin/Arthur story, or, very rarely, as part of threesome or foursome stories. And even though there were some strong Arthur/Morgana hints in S1, she is almost always written as his sister -- or sometimes cousin -- in either canon era or modern stories. So there are only 270 such works, with even fewer for other characters such as Mithian/Arthur (77). 

**Modern AU**

Many historical fandoms have a sizable number of modern AUs, whether in fiction, art or video. This is likely because a familiar setting is easier for many writers to create than an unfamiliar time period. While AUs in general make up a big part of any fandom's works, what is remarkable about Merlin fandom is that the number of modern setting vs canon content is probably a 40/60 balance. Most of the time this is not tagged for, because although "Alternate Universe - Modern Setting" is the most common Freeform tag (6625 works), there are far more of them available. 

However the fandom content has also shifted over time. While Modern AUs came along early on in the fandom, a boom came after canon ended. Part of this was itself canonical, since the series ending suggested that Arthur will return and Merlin continued waiting for him in our current time. However for a while it seemed that there were more modern AUs than canon stories, perhaps because the ending of the series also closed off the canon period storyline.

In the last few years it seems that canon-era stories are making a resurgence, with the balance of stories shifting back to canon settings. Part of this may be due to another frequent trend seen in closed canons, which is that longstanding fests and challenges serve a critical role. While these are rarely the bulk of continuing work, the bursts of often longer form (and completed) content serve to refresh the fandom with new material. And as it happens, quite a few of the [major Merlin fests](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Category:Merlin_Fests_and_Challenges) tend to be canon-oriented rather than centered on modern AUs (such as Merlin Olympics). But it could also be that as new fans arrive they're interested in reading and creating works centered on the canon, rather than AUs that one could find in pretty much any fandom.

Those canon-influenced modern Merlin stories have unique elements. Unlike, say, yet another coffee shop AU, or bookstore or bakery setting, where Merlin and Arthur (or Arthur and Gwen) could be any two people, Merlin Modern AUs often have the following variations that serve as either continuations of canon (in which they are more "future fics" than true AUs) or have strong allusions to canon built into them.

1) _Reincarnation fic:_ Even before the series end, these were quite common -- in fact they were probably more common prior to its end than after. Given Arthur was expected to return in the future, many writers assumed that Arthur, Merlin and the Round Table generally would be reborn as modern people, or perhaps even reborn many times over the centuries, winding up together time after time. Sometimes Merlin would be a key figure in returning their memories, sometimes they would all regain them as they grew older, and very often someone, often Arthur, would not remember his past, which would keep Merlin and Arthur from becoming a couple for much of a given story. Merlin would retain or regain his magic, and very often a plot revolved around a return of magic to our modern times.

However, stories were not always large or plotty, with many a shorter tale turning on the moments of recognition, or rediscovery, or presenting snippets across various lifetimes. Some of these were also post-canon fixit fics where many of the canon events could reoccur with modern trappings, only playing out in more satisfying ways.

Perhaps one of the most interesting elements of Reincarnation stories are those that suppose that the Merlin canon era was not, in fact, the first time the characters had come together. Those stories thus go back in time rather than forward, sometimes to create a time split where the canon we know does not play out as expected. 

Although these are few in number, some stories bring together other characters played by Bradley James, Colin Morgan, Katie McGrath or other actors in their post-Merlin careers. So these might include Bradley's roles in iZombie, Damien, or Medici, Colin's roles in the Living and the Dead or Humans, or Katie's as Lena Luthor with the other fandom character being a reincarnation of the Merlin one.

2) _Arthur returns (or doesn't)_ : The ending that canon chose was decidedly more cruel than what fans had hoped for. Although it was open ended enough that one could interpret Arthur returning more than once, the suggestion was certainly made that Merlin had been living over a millennia tied to Avalon in hopes of greeting his king again.

As a result there were many darker stories where Merlin goes mad during these endless eras. Longer form dark stories had Merlin make himself forget, had him reincarnating alone, or had him becoming the very thing that Arthur had to return to fight. Other stories would focus on the various lifetimes that Merlin lived post-Camlann, and placed him at various historical events, traveling the world, or simply observing the passage of time in England. Some stories had him run across reincarnated versions of the other characters. In the case of Leon, who had drunk from the Cup of Life during the series, sometimes Merlin had company during his wait. These stories generally ended either with Arthur's return or questioning whether it would ever happen, depending on their tone.

Other stories began with Arthur literally coming back out of the lake, functioning to some extent as time travel stories, where Merlin introduces him to a new world. With the death of everyone else they had known, a new chance at a relationship would form. Some of these could be quite complex, with Merlin either well prepared for Arthur's return in order to combat a crisis, or completely unprepared with the two trying to discover why Arthur was back at all. Some are particularly fluffy, with Arthur returning essentially for the sake of Merlin's well being.

Some of these "Arthur returns" stories might still involve reincarnation, with Merlin either tracking him from childhood to adulthood (thus being a sort of age-regression story, kidfic, or age difference tale), or sometimes running across him thanks to destiny -- either because Arthur has regained his memories or because Merlin must help him do so. The difference from the standard Reincarnation fic is that, in these, Merlin himself has never died or reincarnated, and retains a role as guardian of the sleeping king.

Also, as with the Reincarnation stories, these stories could either be very short and turn on key moments, or are long plotty stories serving as an extension of canon. 

3) _Merlin is magical_ : The bulk of modern AUs is not actually connected to canon in terms of plot. Instead, to different degrees of plotting, they introduce magic into routine modern story settings. In some of these Merlin has been magical since birth and is part of underground magic communities, while in others magic is something known and accepted in present day. Very often there is otherwise no connection to canon. No one, including Merlin, remembers a past life, and while the usual cast of characters may appear, they play archetypal roles rather than ones truly connected to their canon selves. 

Merlin may be a magician, a technopagan, a doctor, or some other form of miracle-style worker who actually does have magic. In many cases there is some allusion to destiny bringing Merlin and Arthur together, or a suggestion that the various characters have déjà vu feelings about one another. But these references may be more of a wink to readers than a central plot element. In some stories there is a sort of tacked-on ending or element where Merlin has magic, but in such an off-handed way that it really has nothing to do with the story otherwise. In most of these tales though, Arthur discovering Merlin's magic, or coming to believe in magic, is a central element of the story.

4) _Crossovers and fusions_ : Crossovers combine the "modern" and the "Merlin has magic" elements in different ways. Thanks to the Merlin characters being legends who pop up in different canons anyway, there is an easy connection to many other fandoms. Many of those are magical in some way (Harry Potter is the most common one), but not all of them. In a good many stories the Merlin characters exist in later time periods from our own, often in apocalyptic canons. But given the reincarnation/return elements of Merlin canon, the characters can easily be placed in different historical time periods. 

In crossover stories, the Merlin characters encounter other fandoms due to visitors time traveling, by entering other universes and timelines, or with the suggestion that they are reincarnated into new time periods. For example, there are a small number of stories that have placed Merlin in the Sherlock canon as the youngest Holmes brother. Yet in these stories he is still Merlin who knows his past and is reunited with Arthur in some way. 

This is the key difference between crossovers and fusions. Fusion stories are more likely to have the entire cast of Merlin characters along for the ride as the Round Table is transported into the Star Wars verse, the Pirates of the Caribbean verse, the Star Trek verse, and so on for adventure stories. In fusions they appear with very similar personal connections to one another, and are sometimes even connected to events in Merlin canon.

5) _Teams_ : Often in Modern AU stories (and many fusions) there is a team aspect. Arthur may be an athlete, a soldier, or a corporate executive. He embodies qualities of leadership and battle in some way, and various other characters play supporting roles as fellow teammates or employees. Merlin may be a competitor or he may play a supporting role to him, as an assistant, a trainer, or someone who somehow helps Arthur on a journey. Merlin may or may not have magic but he takes on the role of guide and advisor. 

6) _Royalty stories_ : One of the most direct ways of transposing the Merlin cast to a modern setting is by making Arthur a modern prince. These stories are usually romances rather than adventure tales, and Merlin may meet Arthur in a variety of ways, usually without many others in the cast appearing. Sometimes Merlin is a servant in the palace, a fellow student, or someone who meets Arthur at a royal appearance or by happenstance. Of some interest is that Merlin himself is rarely royalty compared to how frequently this occurs in canon-era fanworks. 

**Magic Reveal**

Unsurprisingly, the central conceit of the Merlin canon is also one of the most common types of story in the fandom. Again, this is not tagged as often as it appears (just 1,990 works), perhaps because it is not always the author's central concern in a story. However the number of works, whether canon era or modern AU, in which Arthur _already knows_ about Merlin's magic are very much the minority. This appears most often in humor stories or in a series where the magic discovery happens early on.

"Magic reveal" stories may be expressed in a variety of ways, which might account for why this tag is not more prominent. For example "Arthur finds out" is another common tag. Many of these stories are essentially two pronged -- Arthur finds out about Merlin's magic, and either Arthur or Merlin also find out the other one loves them. The most entertaining of these stories may be the ones where Arthur already knew, but he and Merlin have never discussed it. These can sometimes be rather angsty, in that Arthur has been waiting for Merlin to trust him or to feel that he's important enough to Merlin for the secret to be shared. Others are more humorous, where the payoff is Arthur telling Merlin that he would have been found out long ago had Arthur himself not helped him hide his magic use. 

Shorter stories often center on a precipitating (sometimes innocuous) event with Arthur reacting poorly. In some he banishes Merlin and then regrets it, in others he temporarily imprisons him or even allows Merlin to be killed. Sometimes he does nothing but distance himself from Merlin until they finally talk about the problem. Other longer, plottier tales may have a magic reveal as an element of the story, but they are not the focus as in many shorter tales. For example, in one story Arthur slips into an alternate universe where everyone knows about Merlin's magic and it is actually Merlin who is prince of Camelot. Eventually Arthur returns to his own universe, bringing with him a certainty that his own Merlin is keeping a secret. So the ways in which Arthur discovers Merlin's magic may be quite complicated, but it always has to be accounted for in some way.

Although Arthur is always the crux of a reveal story, there are others where Merlin's magic becomes known to different characters (often Gwaine, sometimes Gwen) and eventually at the end Merlin tells Arthur or he somehow finds out. In tales where the magic reveal is _not_ an element, Merlin is very often a court sorcerer or has an important official role, either prior to or after Camlann. 

**Canon Era AUs**

Given that Merlin canon was so wildly ahistorical, virtually anything prior to 1500 could be considered a canon era story. Most of these tend to lean heavily on the fantasy elements, and include faerie kingdoms or magical quests. Very few attempt a more historical or political focus. 

In quite a lot of these stories Merlin is never Arthur's servant. Instead he is either the royal child of another (magical) kingdom, or he has lived as a druid and has to become Arthur's consort or political ally. A few stories attempt to hew closer to the Arthurian legends, or create what are essentially original settings and kingdoms for longer stories or a series. Some keep the basic set up of the Merlin canon but focus largely on other characters, such as Gwaine or Gwen. 

Some of these are also darker stories, where Uther is much more of a villain than in the series and Arthur suffers for it. Others explore more of the Priestess lore with Morgana, Morgause, Nimueh, and Ygraine.

Some stories are preseries and include many canon elements but rewrite the story of Uther and Ygraine, and often Balinor and Hunith. Thus Uther may die instead of Ygraine, or Ygraine may live into Arthur's adulthood. In others, Balinor escapes Uther's clutches but forms an opposition to him. These often either take place entirely preseries, or continue into canon events from such a different starting point that the stories are more AU than Divergence stories.

**Canon Era Divergence**

Stories which attempt to merely rewrite canon instead of imagining an alternate sort of verse for the characters are much more common. These may take an episode as a jumping off point, and many of them focus on Merlin or Arthur making different decisions. Either Arthur opposes Uther earlier, Merlin rejects Kilgharrah's or Gaius' advice, or events simply take place differently to create other outcomes.

A particularly significant strand changes Merlin's behavior towards Morgana. While these are sometimes Merlin/Morgana stories, often times they are background Morgana/Gwen, as Morgana is salvaged as an ally to Arthur. Arthur then takes charge of Camelot sooner or in a different way than we saw in canon. Merlin/Morgana stories unsurprisingly tend to put much more focus on magic, the druids, and magical life in the 5 kingdoms. In some stories they work together to support Arthur. In other stories their relationship creates a particular crisis for Merlin, who is more likely to be torn in terms of Arthur's attitudes and behavior. Some of these stories run dark, and others present them as a conflicted couple with something of an enemies to lovers type storyline. 

Some stories are set in between Seasons 4 and 5 so that we actually get to see Arthur rule. These may involve new adventures and encounters with other kingdoms, new threats to Camelot, or a variety of tropes such as time travel and alternate universe encounters. There are also some post-series stories that take place after Arthur's death, and focus on Gwen's rule or Merlin's actions, Gwaine not being dead, etc.

The great majority of canon era stories however are shorter-form works that are tightly focused on getting Merlin and Arthur together.


	2. Characters and Characterization

**Straight Arthur**

What is something of a surprise is that Arthur is very rarely paired with anyone else _but_ Merlin, except for his canon ship, Gwen (2,816) -- at least not as an endgame. Merlin, however, is paired with a variety of people, primarily Morgana (1,111), Gwaine (1,109) or his canon ship, Freya (493). This may be a way in which the ["major character" effect](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6863020) plays out in this fandom, even though it has, essentially, only two major characters.

But various other potential ships show up as what I call a "preliminary pairing", where one or both are dating other people before they get together. For Arthur this means primarily Mithian, Vivian, Elena, or Sophia. While Arthur is sometimes paired with men, from Leon and Percival to Cendred or Valiant, very often a storyline turns on Arthur being bisexual or gay, but in the closet either way. Just as the magic in Camelot plays easily as a metaphor for a prohibited sexuality, we see Arthur unable to confront Uther's prejudices or status concerns in having a gay son as an heir. 

As a result it is much more common for Arthur to see his reputation as an obstacle in his relationship with a publicly gay Merlin, than for the reverse to be true. Merlin tends not to be paired with women unless it's a het story, and even on occasions where Freya is a preliminary pairing for him, he is less likely to be depicted as bisexual than coming to a realization that he is gay. This would seem to be tied to both Merlin's magic as a metaphor for sexuality, as well as Arthur's need to maintain a façade, and the pressure that Uther puts on him to portray strength and status.

It is of particular interest to see how Merlin is handled in Arthur/Gwen stories. In Modern AU stories, he is often simply a friend (of his or hers) and does not play a particularly large role in the story, which is more likely to include Tom and Elyan than most others. In canon-era stories Merlin is harder to sideline, not just because of his role as a manservant but because of his magic. Some of these put an emphasis on Merlin and Gwen's friendship, in others Merlin is more of an asset to Arthur, much like his knights. However these stories tend to bring more attention to Gwen's role as Queen, as a partner to Arthur, and how she is an asset to Camelot.

The "hidden" strand of het among Merlin fanworks still involves Merlin and Arthur. In almost all of them, it is Merlin who is written as always female or non-binary, whether in canon-era stories or modern AUs. It is a rare work that has Arthur portrayed as female, either with a female Merlin or in a het story, which also speaks to how much Arthur is expected to perform straightness in the typical story, regardless of his actual orientation. Although I have seen relatively few ace stories in the fandom, the disparity between the two seems smaller in them.

**Lancelot's Role**

Lancelot gets very few stories of his own, told from his POV or in which Merlin or Arthur appear as background characters. In fact, what is probably more of a surprise is that he appears so often at all. Lancelot appeared in relatively few episodes scattered across several seasons, and not at all in the last one. And despite having been Merlin's friend first, and the only other person in Camelot besides Gaius who knows about Merlin's magic, we see very little done with that role in the show. The most significant scene is probably when Lancelot helps cure Merlin from the effects of the Dorocha, which is also his penultimate appearance in the series. 

The real factor in Lancelot's appearances is as a character of convenience. So in many works Lance appears as a way of either getting Gwen to break up with Arthur, as a private but not unfaithful relationship in a canon story, or as a way of explaining Gwen's absence or taking her out of the story entirely (particularly canon-era, when she leaves Camelot to live with him elsewhere). In other stories, particularly those in which Gwen has a sizable part as Merlin's friend or roommate, usually in the modern era, we are more likely to see a relationship with Lance develop. There are some stories where Lancelot has been paired with Merlin or Arthur as a preliminary pairing, and in these Gwen may be paired with Morgana or Leon, who many fans saw as a likely consort for her post-series.

Interestingly, while Lancelot should have been written most often as Merlin's friend, it is because of Gwen that he is very often written as Arthur's friend in modern AUs. This is because, assuming Arthur and Merlin have also not known one another when the story begins, it offers an explanation for why Gwen and Lancelot have not started dating yet. Although there are also stories where they are both Merlin's friend, and Lancelot is simply very shy or anxious about asking her out. Lancelot is often written as a particularly idealistic person, and in some cases this has him out of the story entirely, serving as a doctor or aid worker overseas even as Gwen is a recurring story character back in England.

Overall, the times where it is most likely that another pairing gets written at all, it's when they are actually part of a Merlin/Arthur story. And Lancelot is definitely the most likely character to appear along with Gwen in these circumstances. Also, it might be that Lancelot is being written less frequently as time goes on. The most written characters are Merlin and Arthur with over 20,000 stories each. Their actual numbers are a bit fuzzy because early on the two BBC series characters were not disambiguated in tags from their mythical selves, leading to a fair amount of double tagging and erroneous tagging. This affected the other characters much less since the mythic Morgana was listed as Morgan le Fay, and other characters were either largely original (Gaius) or used variant spellings for their names. 

So the next most written characters are Morgana (7,808), Gwen (7,681), Gwaine (7352), Gaius (4800) Leon (4190) and Uther Pendragon (3638). Morgana appears in a great many modern AUs as Arthur's sibling or family member, and then also appears in various other small pairings and in canon era stories. Gwaine is most often written as Merlin's friend in any time period, but also benefits from appearing in numerous pairings. Gaius also appears in modern AUs as a relative of Merlin's, sometimes married to Alice, a boss or mentor, or a family physician to the Pendragons. Although he is less likely to turn up in reincarnation stories, he appears there on occasion as well.

Leon, as was mentioned earlier, is very often written as Arthur's friend, college roommate, work confidante, husband to Morgana or Gwen, and appears in a great many stories, much as he did in the canon episodes. Uther's appearances have a lot to do with the type of story being written. Since a good deal of canon-era work takes place after his death, he does not appear. Although he is consistently referred to in modern Arthur/Merlin stories he does not always make an appearance there either. He is sometimes a major protagonist whether in Merlin/Uther stories, preseries stories with Ygraine, or pairings with Gaius or Geoffrey.

Lancelot, however, is tagged for in 3,600 stories, slightly more than Percival (3,416) and considerably more than Elyan (2,294). However unlike Percival, who is often paired with Gwaine and sometimes Merlin in stories that actually feature him, Lancelot is more likely to be playing second fiddle to someone else. And Elyan, who is particularly unlikely to be a central character in his own story, suffers from an absence of pairings.

If Lancelot is appearing in fewer Merlin fanworks as time goes on it might be due to Santiago Cabrera's lack of involvement with the fandom. Alexander Vlahos, for example, appeared in only Merlin's final season, but Mordred tends to appear often in stories (1,829). He plays a variety of roles, often being a child of Morgana's, Arthur's or Merlin's, sometimes as an adult paired with Merlin or Arthur in modern AUs, sometimes as a villain or ally in a canon era story. But he is less often just another one of the knights. However Vlahos has actively engaged with Merlin fans, has attended cons and so on. The continuing friendship among various actors in the series has doubtless played into the popularity of their characters among fans.

**The Ever Present Will**

However compared to Lance, Will's afterlife in fanworks has been enormous given that he appeared in only one episode and is never mentioned again in canon. It is a rare modern era story, for example, that does not at least mention him, even though he doesn't necessarily appear. In many of these he was Merlin's childhood friend, and is still living in Ealdor. In some Will died, and in others he was a preliminary pairing for Merlin. In many others, he and Freya were both childhood friends of Merlin and are paired off together, though I have yet to see a story that featured the two of them alone.

He appears less often in canon-era stories, although he is again often mentioned there, with Merlin telling Arthur stories about being kids together. But although his story appearances tend to be entirely tied to Merlin, unlike Lance he is often a character in his own right and even plays a major role in some stories. 

Hunith also appears in a great many stories (1,767) given that she only appeared in canon one more time than Will. However, being Merlin's mother she was referred to several more times and is rather naturally featured in many stories about him, whether canon era or modern AU. This is far more often than Ygraine (432) since even in modern AUs she has often died in childbirth or early in Arthur's life and so does not appear. What's more, Hunith is sometimes portrayed as a mother substitute for Arthur and her warm relationship with Merlin often has her making at least a cameo. 

A variety of very minor characters appear fairly consistently in Merlin fanworks, some more often in canon era and some in modern AUs. For example, Valiant and Cenred often appear as bullies or villains in modern AUs, but Valiant is rarely seen in canon era stories that don't use his episode as a jumping off point. George and Geoffrey often appear in canon era stories, Sefa and Daegal in modern AUs. Tristan and Isolde also often appear as a couple in modern AUs, and magical characters such as Iseldir, Anhora, Alvarr etc. are often in canon stories. Edwin and Gilli are particularly interesting cases as one-shot characters. Both appear often, even if only name dropped, in Modern AUs. Edwin rarely shows up positively in stories but he was quite likely to show up in early Modern AUs, sometimes as a preliminary pairing for Merlin. Gilli was often part of a group of friends, a co-worker, etc.

Queen Annis is perhaps the most popular character after Will for someone who showed up in only two episodes. She is very often a boss, sometimes a mentor or business rival in Modern AUs. She is also often name dropped in canon era stories even if she doesn't appear. Aredian the Witchfinder, despite appearing only once, shows up quite often as a villanous character in Modern AUs.

The frequent use of a very wide range of otherwise transient characters (in the canon itself) probably speaks strongly to the lack of world building in the Merlin series. There are relatively few characters who appear repeatedly throughout all 5 seasons of the show, and not even that many who appear in more than 3 seasons or a dozen episodes overall. Even recurring characters, such as Percival, never get more than a line or two of backstory. Development tends to happen more due to the needs of a particular episode plot than any deliberate effort to flesh out their personal stories. Much of Merlin's early seasons tend to be particularly episodic, with a villain or ally appearing the once and then never mentioned again. So for many fanfic writers who are trying to develop daily life in Camelot or anyone's lives preseries, there's not much there to work with.

**Underappreciated Merlin and Higher Status Arthur**

Although there are various interpretive tropes used for Merlin stories, one particularly common one is the Underappreciated Merlin strand. These sometimes lead into other darker stories, whump stories, or hurt/comfort stories generally. 

What's curious about these stories is that, although they generally go to much greater lengths than canon to either humble Arthur or to repeatedly emphasize how much Merlin is disregarded, this is not actually a counter-reading of the series. Given that many fanworks are fixit fics of some kind, or want to take the series places where it didn't go, these stories tend to differ from canon more in scale than interpretation. Merlin was quite often sorry for himself, felt himself underappreciated, and at least once basked in Arthur's unknowing acknowledgment of Merlin when his will was removed. 

Given that it was Merlin's own decision not to reveal himself to Arthur, who went through the whole series without knowing about Merlin's actions (for better or worse), it seemed a bit overdone to make Arthur responsible for Merlin's feelings. When he found out some of the truth in the 11th hour, he actually took it quite well and gave Merlin the validation he craved. 

Far fewer are the stories where Arthur learns about Merlin's actions and is appalled, not by Merlin's magic, but by the actions he has taken behind Arthur's back and the subversion of the crown on many occasions. These two types of stories are probably strongly influenced by the popularity of the Merlin/Arthur pairing and the desire to get the characters together. This is much easier in fics where Arthur is forced to grovel to Merlin and then admire him, than when Arthur feels betrayed by Merlin's actions and finds him untrustworthy. 

In some of the Underappreciated Merlin stories, friends act on his behalf to make clear to Arthur what he is missing in his manservant. In others, he is not merely scorned by Arthur but by the knights, Uther, or Camelot as a whole as a less than capable servant. 

Interestingly there are also relatively few stories where Merlin either takes over Camelot from Arthur, for himself or on behalf of magic users, or else gives up on him or accepts banishment when his magic is revealed. Such storylines also tend to create large barriers to the two becoming romantic partners. The small amount of het and femslash in the fandom tends to limit the alternate storyline possibilities for a disregarded Merlin moving into an independent or leadership role. Even the works marked gen are often preslash, whereas a scroll through the "Other" category reveals a great deal of unclassified gen, so the categories are not always reliable. 

Conversely, there are relatively few stories that do not have Arthur as more socially or financially advantaged than Merlin. While this would be difficult to manage in a canon divergent fic, there are a few where Arthur simply lost Camelot to Morgana or was disinherited by Uther (thus opening the way to Merlin fandom's version of curtain fic -- farmer!Arthur). But canon era AUs have sometimes had Arthur be either a "lost prince" or even a captive slave owned by other kingdom rulers, who is eventually discovered by Merlin and restored to his rightful place. In some darker fics, Merlin keeps him as his own slave. In some other stories, Arthur is simply less powerful as a non-magical ruler than Merlin is as a druid legend and world's most powerful sorcerer.

However modern AUs would seem to create many opportunities for role reversal between them. Yet just as Merlin is very rarely royalty, he is also very rarely, say, the CEO, the billionaire, the general of an army, or the club owner with Arthur as his assistant, employee, lieutenant, or football player. What is often the case is that they are equals of a sort -- both authors, athletes, doctors, or detectives. However more commonly, Arthur continues to be famous, wealthy, a high status professional, or simply older and more established than Merlin (nanny!Merlin stories being a good example). Meanwhile Merlin is often underprivileged, struggling, working class, or in an underpaid profession. Some exceptions are stories where, say, Arthur is a teenage prostitute and Merlin is a social worker, or Merlin a teacher and Arthur a student. 

In many ways this is unsurprising. Although both characters are young when the series opens, Arthur is portrayed as older and already carrying more responsibility (even though chances are Merlin started working from an even earlier age). He is at the very top of the social and power hierarchy as either heir apparent or eventually king. Merlin's status derives directly from Arthur's, and though he is in many ways more powerful than Arthur, it is power that can't be used openly and is, in fact, dangerous to him. Merlin is quite literally a subversive figure.

In romance stories, billionaires and aristocrats make up the majority of the heroes. And while the Merlin series starts off rather well, showing how undesirable the company of such people might actually be, we know that Arthur will prove to be more because it's his destiny. The fact that Merlin shows a rather modern lack of deference, and feels quite unconcerned with doing his job well, actually plays right into the fantasy element of being part of such a high status household. There are relatively few romances where a powerful woman ends up marrying a low status man (or at least one who remains so throughout the story). In fact, it isn't even that common that the two protagonists are social or financial equals. 

In Merlin, fans get to have it both ways. Arthur is the prince and the billionaire, but Merlin isn't really a nobody. He's the single most powerful person in the series, even if his background really is as a nobody. (Of course, being Balinor's son he's not really as much of a peasant as he might seem either, but given Balinor had no influence on his life this is more of a footnote). In this, he gets to be the undercover hero, the person who will upend the status quo by being outside of it in unseen ways. Perhaps this is why Merlin and Arthur have also often been portrayed in AUs as spies.

**A New Story**

Ultimately, while some Merlin fanworks overlap with more traditional Arthurian stories and artworks, the central issue in them remains the push and pull between the two heroes, with everyone else playing a very secondary role. Unlike the traditional stories, the nature of magic and its role in a society is the central factor in Merlin tales. It is not merely whether magic is accepted and by who, but how it is used to balance secular and hierarchical power. 

The fact that Merlin and Arthur are _both_ young in this canon, and that Merlin's form of service to Arthur is inverted so that it has, on the surface, nothing to do with magic or knowledge, changes the balance of power between them. Merlin does not have the authority of age, he does not have the respect that his skills should bring him, and he is very officially beneath Arthur in terms of his role. Arthur, on the other hand, is restricted less by political considerations with other leaders, or having to unite factions, than by having to struggle with an overbearing parent whose views his conscience does not agree with.

These differences mean that Arthur and Merlin never quite work together in this canon (in fact, once Arthur is prepared to work on "uniting Albion" we see relatively little of it before the series ends). Indeed, sometimes they are working at cross purposes and their most direct struggles are not with external parties or even one another, but with their own authority figures or, in Merlin's case, his fear of what prophecies might mean.

While fanworks often highlight how Merlin and Arthur must learn to accept and appreciate one another, quite a large strand seeks to equalize their positions. Canon-era stories are most likely to do this by reverting to Merlin's traditional position as the court sorcerer and royal advisor. Modern era ones give them the same or complementary positions in a profession or setting. And of course many plots end in marriage, which might mean getting a crown or a title to equalize them.

Rarely explored is the role of women in the canon, in either canon-era or modern stories, largely because the women aren't central characters in fanworks. And the various knights and other recurring characters very rarely take on larger roles than they served in the canon itself, as sounding boards and allies for Arthur or Merlin, which means less exploration of the verse as a whole.

In short, while there is some effort to tinker with the central conceits in canon, for the most part these elements are reflected back in the fanworks for Merlin, which ends up making them all a distinct grouping of Arthurian tales.


End file.
